THURSDAY, OCT. 2: As Gov. Maggie Hassan today ordered state agency heads to submit plans to reduce their budgets by $30 million, her campaign rolled out a business leaders coalition.

Earlier this week, the fiscal 2013-14 budget surplus was announced at nearly $20 million, or about $7 million below projections.

It prompted Republican criticism of the governor, who today said the “trend in business and interest-and-dividends revenue” so far in the new fiscal year “demands action.

“In light of the September revenue numbers, I am asking state agencies to submit plans to reduce their budgets,” she announced. All departments except the Health and Human Services Department were ordered to plan for a reduction, in total, of $30 million, while HHS is working on its own plan “due to larger-than-expected caseload growth.”

The Hassan campaign unveiled a list of about 50 “Business Leader for Hassan,” including Will Kanteres of Kanteres Real Estate, Joseph F. Keefe Pax World Management LLC, Quentin W. Keefe of Regency Mortgage Corp. and Sean O’Kane of Winward Strategies.

THURSDAY, OCT. 2: A group of Democratic women today accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown of implying on Fox News on Wednesday that voters care less about equal pay for women than national security, veterans issues and health care.

Shaheen has said that Brown “doesn’t stand up for women’s reproductive rights and economic security” and “co-sponsored legislation to let employers deny women coverage for birth control or even mammograms. He had two opportunities to vote for equal pay laws and both times he voted no.”

Brown said that security, the Afforable Care Act and the economy “are affecting women. Women own businesses. And the rights of women. So I think it’s a false premise and I’m not surprised she’s trying to smear my record.

New Hampshire House speaker Terie Norelli, joined other women Shaheen supporters at an event in Manchester to criticize Brown.

“Equal pay is critical to Granite State women and their families,” Norelli said. “It’s also critical to our state’s economy. We know that in order to grow, we have to grow together. But it does seem that Scott Brown missed that memo. Scott Brown is wrong. People do care about these issues, particularly women in New Hampshire. And it’s troubling to me that someone who is asking for the trust of any voter would be so dismissive of what voters think is important.”

The two Republicans said Shaheen supports a national energy tax – a charge she has denied. They said her opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline is costing potential new jobs and keeping the U.S. more dependent than necessary on unfriendly foreign nations for oil.

Brown “supports an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy and supports efforts, such as the Keystone XL pipeline, to grow our nation’s energy supply and increase energy independence,” said Forrester.

THURSDAY, OCT. 2: The super PAC American Crossroads says it will spend $3 million in television advertising in a one-week time frame attacking Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. The group, co-founded by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove, will be on their air on broadcast stations not only in New Hampshire but also in Boston and in Vermont and Portland, Maine. It has also purchased time on cable television.

The ad buy is for the week of Oct. 14, according to various reports.

The New Hampshire Journal has learned that a pollster working on behalf of American Crossroads is surveying voters in the state tonight, testing voters reactions to certain statements about Shaheen.